Livejournal, you are reprieved - for now
Well, my resolution to shift to Dreamwidth has lasted less than a day. Several things changed my mind, of which the most important is that Livejournal seems to have started working again. But also Dreamwidth is really lacking in a number of the good features that LJ has built on in the last few years - there is no image hosting as far as I can see, the embedding of media from other sites is clunky and unrealiable, and there is no way to schedule a post in advance (for the last year or so I've been writing the coming week's book reviews the previous weekend and scheduling them to come out each day). On top of that, to reflect posts to Facebook and Twitter, you have to cross-post to LJ as DW doesn't have that capability. It's basically where LJ was five years ago. So I am returning to LJ for now.
But LJ is on notice. The system is clearly under financial and political pressure, and I am preparing backup options. A kind friend has hosted a Wordpress backup for several years now, and I will probably go that way eventually. But I will plan it carefully, and ensure that I have set up all the necessary bells and whistles. A lot of my public life is in this blog, and I want to preserve it securely.
But LJ is on notice. The system is clearly under financial and political pressure, and I am preparing backup options. A kind friend has hosted a Wordpress backup for several years now, and I will probably go that way eventually. But I will plan it carefully, and ensure that I have set up all the necessary bells and whistles. A lot of my public life is in this blog, and I want to preserve it securely.